


Vaninktober

by SinfulAqua



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Inktober 2018, Vaninktober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-23 15:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 6,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16161842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinfulAqua/pseuds/SinfulAqua
Summary: A series of little drabbles and ficlets based on the Vaninktober prompts over on Tumblr.





	1. Creation

Dark. It was so dark. He couldn’t see anything. Couldn’t hear anything. Where was he?  _ Who  _ was he?

Faintly, he could hear a voice, followed by a rushed sound. Wind? Was that the wind?

_ “Empty creature from Ventus riven, to you the name  _ Vanitas  _ shall be given.” _

Vanitas. . .  _ Vanitas _ . The name sounded. . .  _ Wrong _ , almost. What was that other name the voice said? Ventus? That name sounded better, it sounded  _ right _ . Why couldn’t he have that name? It sounded like it would fit him better, it-

Everything came into view then. A boy on the ground, an old man with a piercing golden gaze, pillars of stone as far as the eye could see. A wasteland. Home? Was this his home?

Vanitas turned his own gaze to the man, wondering what he saw. From the look on his face he saw. . . A weapon? A boy? He couldn’t be sure. Hell, he wasn’t even sure what he looked like. Did he look like the boy on the ground?

Ventus. Was that boy Ventus then?

No matter. He could get answers to all of these questions later. He turned his gaze back to the old man, watching the grin upon his face widen.

“Yes. . . Master.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually trying to do this on top of all my other projects, I'm gonna die :D
> 
> Character tags, relationship tags (if needed), and additional tags will be updated as the month goes on. The rating will also be subject to change based upon later prompts. Hope you guys enjoy!


	2. Purpose

He stared at his other half, teeth bared in a silent growl as he watched him run around with that wooden  _ toy _ , laughing and smiling. He shouldn’t be  _ allowed  _ to be so carefree, Vanitas thought. He had no  _ right  _ to be so happy.

He clenched his hands into fists, still managing to feel his nails dig into the skin of his palm through the veiny material of his suit. Stupid. Ventus was so  _ stupid _ .

How badly he wanted to go down there and force him to fight him here and now. Damn the old man and his rules, they had a purpose,  _ he  _ had a purpose! If he stayed up here, watching from afar and waiting, then his chance at becoming whole would slip further and further away.

Not only that. . . But so would the X-blade. Didn’t Ventus know that was what they were here for? To become whole and forge the X-blade. Why was no one telling him this? Why were they letting him run around and play?

A frustrated cry tore from his throat, an inky mass shooting from his torso as he took off his helmet and tossed it aside.

What was the point of either of them existing. . . If they couldn’t do what the Master wanted them to do?

He just wanted to fulfill his purpose and stop hurting.


	3. Flight

The old man said that the Lanes Between weren’t safe, that he needed to have some form of protection and transportation if he ever dared to enter them.

For the longest time, he believed him. He couldn’t form armor like Xehanort or those idiots in the Land of Departure, and his keyblade couldn’t transform either. A consequence to only being one half of a whole, he guessed.

It wasn’t fair though, to see Ventus flying around on that stupid glider of his, while he was rooted to the ground. And with his armor, he would be able to enter the Lanes of Between without any problems! He didn’t have to use Corridors of Darkness like he did. No, he could just sit in the light and fly around without a care in the world.

_ He  _ wanted to fly around.  _ He  _ wanted to be up in the air, watching everything below him drop further and further away.

An Unversed tore itself from his back, the distinct sound of flapping wings registering in his mind. He turned to look at the new creature, face to face with some kind of bird.

He might not be able to fly himself. . . But at least something could fly for him.


	4. Flood

They came from him in waves. Big Unversed, small Unversed, Unversed that looked like technology or objects, Unversed that looked animalistic and behaved as such.

Those Unversed simply came and went. They rippled from him when his emotions became too much and spilled out from his form. When they surged back into him, it cause dhim agony and brought more to life.

But there was one type that came more often than the others, that came with the ever changing tide of his moods and emotional outbursts.

The Floods, spurting out from him in various directions, almost always slinking into the earth as a proper extension of himself. He could send them to various worlds without problem, flooding them all with his negativity.

He wasn’t even sure how that name came to be associated with them, but he wasn’t bothered by it. The name did fit them, after all.

His Floods. Perhaps they would hurt less when they came back to him.


	5. Mimic

If one was to ask Vanitas how he would feel about someone using skills like his own, he would say that the only one who had the right to do so was Ventus. After all, they were two halves of a whole, it would only make sense if his lighter side was able to act like him.

But no. No, Ventus had to have his own lame moves and tricks. There was nothing he did that even remotely resembled what he could do.

Instead, it was  _ her _ .

Now, he had found it a bit suspicious during their fight in Neverland that she would suddenly vanish and reappear behind him after he would strike at her. If he didn’t know any better (and oh, he thought that he knew better!) then he would have believed she was teleporting. But that couldn’t be possible, not at all!

He teleported. Not her. Not Aqua.

Yet there she was, running through another world, cutting down his Unversed and sending them surging back into him before they could burst out again in a new wave of agony.

And oh, it wasn’t just the  _ teleporting  _ that she had copied from him, oh no.

This new master was leaving behind  _ after images  _ of herself during certain attacks, just like he could!

Why why why  _ why  _ **_WHY?!_ **

Thief! Mimic!

Vanitas nearly let out a primal scream, a larger Unversed oozing from his form to rush towards Aqua. He wouldn’t rip her apart. . . Yet.

He just needed one good reason now to still call her a backup plan, especially if she was going to copy his own damn moves.


	6. Lost

_ Where am I? _

It was the only thought running through his mind as he drifted among the shadows. Not once did he feel an Unversed squirming to escape his body, nor could he feel his own heart beating.

Did he even have a heart anymore?

Where was Ventus? He couldn’t hear him, couldn’t see him. Did they merge? Was the X-blade forged?

No. No, it wasn’t, he remembered now. They had battled in their fractured heart, light against darkness, and something had caused them both to shatter. It may have been their clash, it may have been something else, Vanitas wasn’t sure.

What he did know, however, was that he was lost in the darkness, mindlessly floating around without a landing in sight.

What a truly terrible and lonely fate.


	7. Identity

_ Who am I, who am I, who am I? _

**_WHO THE HELL AM I?!_ **

Darkness knew how to eat away at a person, even if that person was a being of pure darkness and not even truly whole. Perhaps that was how it could get to him, he thought.

His name was Vanitas, or, that is what he was named.

His  _ true _ name was  _ Ventus _ . Yes, that had to be right, that had to be his name. The Ventus walking around had merely  _ stolen  _ his name,  _ stolen  _ his face,  _ stolen  _ his life.  _ He  _ should be the one that had been given to Eraqus, not the broken fake!  _ He  _ should have trained among Terra and Aqua,  _ he  _ should be flying from world to world on a wild chase!

And yet no.

No, his name  _ was  _ Vanitas. He was darkness, he was despair, he was everything wrong with Ventus and more. Anger, pain, lust, greed, pride, all of it and still not enough. Whatever there was light about Ventus was reflected as a darker version that Vanitas could maifest in the form of an Unversed.

But no, no, he was  _ both  _ wasn’t he?! He was both, yet neither, a person but a creature.

Real and fake.

Vanitas felt tears of frustration burn at the corners of his eyes, hidden away by his helmet.

_ I just want to know who  _ **_I_ ** _ am. _


	8. Sky

No matter where he went, no matter what world or empty space he entered, the sky was always the same. The sun would be in the same location, the moon would have the same phases, and the stars.

The stars were his favorite. He always preferred arriving during the night when he’d reach a new world. And, if he was alone, his Archravens could fly through the sky without worries of being stuck down by Ventus or his friends.

Sometimes, after discovering his hovering ability, he would float through the air with them, trying to see how far he could push himself and his abilities. There were times that he swore he brushed his fingers against the clouds.

But he loved sailing through a starry sky the most. Like this, he could forget everything else, even for just a few moments. It was just him and the stars.


	9. Overwhelm

He hated seeing them, those twitchy blue things that just loved to leap out of him every time he was pissed off or annoyed or something! He didn’t understand it, he didn’t understand them, and he hated it!

Vanitas summoned his keyblade when one of those things was being particularly aggravating (which merely caused five more to jump out from his back). He struck it and the new ones down, expecting them to just take it and die.

He wasn’t counting on a major flood of negativity to rush back into him, the sheer weight of it overwhelming, bringing the boy down to his knees with a silent scream.

Too much, it was too much!

When the pain (could it be called pain?) subsided, he stayed where he was, gasping for air.

Vanitas rarely struck down his own Unversed again after that, and only when necessary. He didn’t want to feel that way again.


	10. AU

His first memories weren’t of pain, but of a boy hugging him tightly without speaking. His first emotions weren’t negative, but very positive.

He had a touch of light in him, something that Xehanort couldn’t use. Still, he could find a way to work with this. It just meant that he would have to send the both of them to his old friend.

***

“C’mon, Terra, you can do it!” Ventus shouted, cheering on his friend during the exam.

“Kick Eraqus’s ass, Terra! Show him that you are more than master material!” Vanitas added, red eyes gleaming with enjoyment. They had all waited for this day for what felt like ages. Terra was about to become a Master before their very eyes!

Or, they thought so.

Vanitas watched as Eraqus suddenly shoved Terra back, too far away to truly tell what had happened and hear most of what their master was saying. He and Ventus ran over to the other two, arriving just in time to hear the end of Eraqus’s little speech.

“Until you have reigned in your darkness, I cannot grant you the title of Master,” he said, turning away from the boys. Ventus stared in shock, almost like he was unable to process what they had just heard.

But Vanitas found himself growling, anger festering in the pit of his stomach.

“What the hell do you mean?! Terra deserves that damn title, old man! Why won’t you give it to him?! He deserves it!” He looked at his friend, his heart aching at how lost Terra looked. “Terra, hey. . . What can we-”

Terra waved him off, moving past him and Ventus. “I’m sorry, guys, but I think I need some time alone. I don’t. . . I’m not sure where that darkness had come from.”

They watched him walk off, Vanitas staying where he was as Ventus decided it was a good idea to run after him. Or maybe he was going to find Eraqus and try and convince him to let Terra try the exam again. They all knew it would take another several years though, give or take. Vanitas wasn’t entirely sure how this was supposed to work.

He scoffed, turning on his heel to head back up to his room. This whole day was stupid. Maybe a nap would help.

***

There was no nap happening, he realized.

The moment he had opened his bedroom door, he had come face to face with a girl who looked to be a few years older than him, blue hair just barely brushing her shoulders and icy blue eyes appearing to pierce into his own soul. He didn’t like that. It was unsettling.

“Who the hell are you and how did you get in here?!” he asked, hands already itching to wield Void Gear and strike the stranger.

The girl rose from where she had been sitting on his bed (on his damn bed, like she owned the place!), her walk over to him something like that of a hunter stalking its prey.

He didn’t want to be anyone’s prey.

“The Master says that the time has come, Vanitas,” she said, her somewhat melodious voice throwing him off guard. “You and Ventus have to go.”

What? What did she mean? Go where?

“You trying to freak me out lady? ‘Cause it isn’t working! You’re gonna have to try a completely different threat to- h-hey!”

She was suddenly in front of him, her hand cupping his chin to tilt his head up just a bit.

“Listen to me, Vanitas. You and Ventus better run along out of here. Do you want to lose the Terra that you know forever?” There was a smile that followed her words, one that honestly sent a chill down his spine. Who was she? Something about her was. . .Oddly familiar. He didn’t like this at all!

“What. . . What are you talking about? We’re not gonna lose Terra!”

The clock suddenly began to chime, the girl’s hand no longer holding his chin. She walked backwards, a pool of darkness building up behind her before opening some kind of door.

“Run along, Vanitas. You have a big adventure coming up.”

It was only when she was gone, the darkness swallowing her up, that he noticed the indents in his skin from her nails.

But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was Terra and Ventus.

He could only hope they were okay.


	11. Alone

He didn’t have a home. He never had a home.

He didn’t have friends, unless you counted the Unversed. He didn’t though. They were just fodder, existing as a way to cause havoc and then rush back into him to blind him with pain and grant him more power.

He didn’t have a family. Sure, he remembered one, but he couldn’t see their faces, hear their voices. For all he knew, he dreamt them up.

Vanitas had nothing, he knew this. Everything he didn’t have, his light half did have. Family. Friends. A home. He had it all.

Ventus wasn’t alone.

But Vanitas was. He kind of liked it that way though, but he also didn’t. It made his urge to join with Ventus again that much greater.

It meant he wouldn’t be alone anymore.


	12. Breathe

In. Out. In. Out.

He clenched his jaw, sucking in a pained breath, his shoulder shuddering. Breathe. He just had to keep breathing. In and out. In and-

“Ngh-!”

His knees nearly gave out from under him, agony shooting through his veins as the Trinity Armor surged back into his body. He just had to breathe and not scream like the first time one of his Unversed had returned to him.

He just had to breathe.


	13. Bittersweet

It didn’t look appetizing at all, he thought. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to dip that weird star shaped fruit into different kinds of chocolate? Milk, white, dark, a mix of one and the other.

Vanitas watched as kids rushed around, picking up the different treats that the stall vendor was giving out. Sure, some were handing out munny, but the smaller brats were able to run off without paying. The old man was far too nice if he was doing that. Geez.

Feeling a bit glad that he had decided to change his clothes so he could blend in better (even if it meant removing his helmet and exposing his face to these idiots), he walked up to the stall as another pair of brats ran off.

“Ewww, this isn’t sweet at all! This is bitter, why did you give it to me?” he heard one shout at another.

“Because, Sora, I want to be able to keep an eye on you at all times! We’re best friends after all, so we have to share a paopu!” the other said.

Vanitas looked over the treat selections before looking at the old man. “I don’t have to share like those kids did, right? I don’t. . . exactly have someone to share this stuff with.”

The man laughed, shaking his head. “That’s just an old wives’ tale, young man. The kids on these islands love ‘em though, so we keep telling them and letting them believe it to be true.”

He nodded, looking back at the choices presented to him. He picked up a paopu slice that had dark chocolate on it, as well as a caramel drizzle and some sea salt. “How much for this one?”

“50 munny.”

Vanitas could have yelled about that being way too much, but he also had enough money stolen from Ventus and his friends that he couldn’t be too bothered. Hey, it technically wasn’t his munny that he was spending, finding it far too easy to actually fork over the required munny.

Ignoring the thanks from the old man, he walked away, nibbling on the slice.

Huh.

The kid from earlier wasn’t wrong. This certainly wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t completely bitter either. It was a combination of the two.

Bittersweet. He kind of liked that.


	14. Void

He wanted one. That key-thing the Master and the husk used. Well, that the husk  _ used _ to use. But he kept being told that he couldn’t, that since he was just pure darkness it wouldn’t be possible.

He didn’t have a  _ heart _ , according to the old geezer. He needed whatever a heart was to use one of those keys.

Supposedly all he had was a void in place of a heart, making it impossible to use even a pale imitation of the weapon.

It didn’t stop him from trying though. Each second spent alone, he kept trying to call upon that thing to come out of his own personal void. The Master would be too busy trying to get that husk to work again, so he didn’t know of all of these efforts.

But how did they do it? He was trying everything, so then why?! Why wasn’t it working?!

Vanitas let out a frustrated cry, swinging his hand out in a last ditch effort.

He felt a weight in his hand, his fingers grasping at whatever had appeared in his hand. He turned his head, his gaze meeting that of an eye embedded in the hilt of the blade.

It was a mess of gears and chains, completely different from the blades used by the Master and the husk.

A keyblade that came out of the void of his own heart. Didn’t these things normally get a name?

“Void Gear. That’s what I’ll call you.”


	15. Free Day

Aqua sat on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, watching Vanitas walk in and set down a cup of tea. She was hesitant to take it, but the fact that he had actually gone ahead to make her something to calm down was too kind of a gesture to ignore.

Even if it wasn’t something she would normally expect from him.

“Man, I knew you would get spooked, but I didn’t think you would be spooked that easily,” Vanitas said, sitting beside her. “What’s your deal?”

She scoffed, finally reaching out to pick up the mug to at least cradle in her hands, letting the warmth seep in.

“Come on, it was just a game!”

“Just a game? You gave me no warning, other than the fact that it was a  _ horror  _ game. Normally I would be fine with that, but you took it a step too far, Vanitas. A kid?  _ Seriously _ ?”

Vanitas shrugged, shifting a bit to place his arms over the back of the couch. “Eh, who cares? So it was a creepy game with a creepy kid.”

Okay, he did care a bit. After overhearing Ventus talk about how horror material that had children in it was one of the few things that truly scared Aqua, he made it his goal to see how far he could push it. Sitting her down and asking her to play  _ The Park  _ with him seemed like a great idea. . . Until it wasn’t.

She looked like she had been about to have something like a panic attack, especially when the mother was becoming a little too harsh while calling out for her son and recalling her history with him.

He sort of regretted picking that game now. Maybe  _ Silent Hill _ would have been better?

. . . No, that would have been worse. He still kind of made a mistake though (not that he would say it out loud).

“Hey, I never played it before!” A lie. “How was I supposed to know the kid would scare the shit out of you?” Another lie.

Aqua didn’t respond for a long while, merely taking small sips of the tea he made for her. Hell, he even thought to add sugar and honey to the damn thing, and she didn’t seem angry about that.

“Look.” He shifted himself again so he was closer to her, hesitant before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry. It’s October, I wanted to have fun scaring people, but I. . . I probably should have scared you differently. Or with some other creepy kid thing that wouldn’t make you panic like that.”

Aqua leaned into him after a moment, miraculously not losing any of the tea.

“Need me to put on some dumb movie so you can distract yourself? You can pick it, just expect some dumbass commentary from yours truly.”

_ That  _ got a smile out of her, and he swore he heard a faint giggle.

“Sure.”

“Great, cause I make excellent dumbass commentary for even the shittiest of films.”

He’d pick another day to scare her. For now, this was a step in a better direction for their odd friendship.


	16. Wasteland

He looked out at his surroundings, watching the wind pick up the dirt to send it spiraling away. This place had once been full of light and life, hadn’t it? He could vaguely recall in his foggiest memories this place once being green and lush.

Now it was barren and hollow, craters and abandoned keys the only remains of what used to be a world. Had it been a world though, or were his memories lying to him?

Perhaps it had always been a desolate wasteland, he thought. A place of life and death, despite containing no inhabitants other than himself.

But a wasteland was just that. A wasteland.

Not a home.


	17. Hope

He had watched Ventus go from world to world, slaying the Unversed that would roam among them. He watched him show more than just three emotions, watched him grow and become stronger.

He tested his other half’s strength before deciding upon using his friend as a backup plan in case the former husk didn’t work out.

But now, watching him rush through the whirlwinds that contained his more wild Unversed, Vanitas couldn’t help but feel something bubble up in his chest. It was a strange feeling, one that was warm and nearly brought a smile to his face.

Was this hope? Hope that he would finally be whole again? Hope that he wouldn’t have to be in constant pain?

That’s all he could guess it was, of course. Hope. Pure hope that everything wasn’t a wasted effort.

It was all according to plan.


	18. Insomnia

Sleep was something that honestly confused him. What was the point of resting part of the day away? Someone could come in and strike you down while you slept, and if that didn’t happen, then you were wasting valuable time that could be spent battling and training.

That was always his thought process whenever Ventus would go and sleep instead of just keep training until he could hardly move, and even then, he should  _ still  _ train because they had a purpose, and time was running out.

Of course, if he ever tried to sleep it was very difficult. It only seemed to come to him when he would push himself too far.

Later on, he overheard someone talk about having insomnia. Maybe that’s what he had then? It would make sense.

If anything, he preferred having insomnia over being able to fall asleep.


	19. Myth

“And right over here is the River Styx. Don’t listen to anyone though and go for a swim in it, you  _ really  _ shouldn’t do that.”

Vanitas just nodded, vaguely wondering how in the hell a goddess of myth was even remotely okay with leading him around the Underworld. He didn’t even  _ know  _ that this place existed beneath the Colosseum!

“And then of course- oh, Hades, darling!”

Persephone seemed to have a skip in her step as she walked over to a blue skinned man with flames for hair. Vanitas couldn’t help but notice that the goddess’s own pastel pink tones clashed with the man’s darker colors. . . Yet they somehow mixed well?

He stepped up to the both of them, crossing his arms. “So  _ you’re _ Hades?” He didn’t seem all that impressive, especially for someone people referred to as the  _ Lord of the Dead _ . Hadn’t he heard that weird goat thing saying something about how Aqua totally wiped the floor with this guy, too?

“Yeah, what about it? You got something to- Persephone, what are you doing?”

It was then that Vanitas took notice of her looking between him and Hades. For a moment, he wondered if there was something on his face (why did he even take off his damn helmet in the first place?!), honestly finding her expression a bit worrying.

And then Persephone broke out into a grin.

“Father and son! Cause of the yellow eyes!”

Vanitas could only blink, caught off guard by her statement and unable to think of a response. She. . . Thought Hades was his dad? He didn’t. . . He didn’t even remember his father. To be viewed as the child of a god, a child of a myth. . .

He felt a smile tug at his face, the expression fully foreign to him, not at all listening to whatever Hades and Persephone were saying. He liked the idea of being their kid, even if it wasn’t true.

His own personal myth, maybe.


	20. Graveyard

It was unusual, but not unwelcome, he decided, watching as his Unversed ran about and actually looked like they were enjoying themselves. Children of the strangest kind chased after them, laughing and shouting and screaming at each other.

But they weren’t fighting them. If anything, he dared to say they were  _ playing _ with them.

No one  _ played  _ with his Unversed.

But here were not just these children playing with them, but also a tall skeleton teaching some of his Scrappers how to dance. Vanitas would be lying if he said he wasn’t trying to copy the moves from a safe distance.

It all ended up with his Scrappers and a few Floods and other Unversed gathering up in the graveyard of this world to dance for the residents of the town.

He nearly revealed himself and joined in, but instead stayed in the shadows.

At least he now knew that not all graveyards were a place of sadness. Here, he and his Unversed could actually be happy.


	21. Reprieve

His ragged breathing echoed in his ears, pain coursing throughout his entire form. Was it pain though? He honestly couldn’t tell anymore, wondering if he was just making himself believe that his body hurt. After all, he was used to the attacks that his Master dealt, even as they became far more brutal and far more frequent.

He kept failing. Terra hadn’t given in and fallen to the darkness of his own heart. Ventus still wasn’t ready, still a bit too broken to be joined with. And then Aqua. . . That stupid woman kept getting in his way, kept keeping him from his two goals.

He knew this. Xehanort knew this.

The edge of his Master’s Keyblade rested against the base of his neck, pulling away after a moment. Vanitas waited for the finishing blow, only to hear his Master walk away from him.

“No, you still have use to me,” the man said, his gravelly voice still somehow reaching the barely conscious boy. “You get a reprieve. For now.”

Great, so he wouldn’t lose his life today. Wonderful. He could live to die another day.


	22. Memory

Vanitas curled up, his only company a few Floods. He hated these days, even if they occurred rarely.

He hated how Ventus’s memories, his own former memories, would assault his mind.

Laughter, smiles, tears, pain, and so much more. He hated it, hated it,  **_hated it!_ **

Sometimes he would have flashes of memories about a mother and a father, only for it to transition to traveling through worlds with an unfamiliar Keyblade and some sort of grey cat thing. He would see brief glimpses of people he could just barely recall the names of, he could see the Keyblade Graveyard after the war, just as dead and quiet as it was now.

He didn’t want them. He didn’t want these memories. Ventus should be the one suffering from these but no, he was the one who had to get them.

He just wanted the feelings that came with them to  _ stop. _


	23. Disguise

Vanitas tugged at the collar of his new shirt, not at all enjoying the fact that he had to change out of his usual suit and into a set of normal clothes. The only real upside he was seeing to this though was his chance to walk around Disney Town with no worries.

No one looked at him with fear, they actually talked with him if he decided to bother speaking with them first, and they just treated him like. . .

Like he was a  _ normal boy. _

He hated that it was a disguise that gave him this moment of relaxation, but in the end, he found himself wishing that it was real and that he wouldn’t have to give it up any time soon. Maybe one day, when he was merged with Ventus again, he could come back here for more ice cream and games.

No disguises needed.


	24. Battle

He watched the wind pick up the dust around him, settling everywhere and nowhere at once. Everything lead up to this moment. Terrorizing the worlds with his Unversed. Making Ventus run away from home. Ensuring that those three wouldn’t have as strong of a bond in the end, otherwise all of this would go to waste.

He stood up, taking several steps forward, focused on only the goal ahead of him.

Ventus.

The X-blade.

Becoming whole again.

This battle would bring all of this hard work to reality.

No more waiting.


	25. Acceptance

No.

No, no,  _ no _ ,  **_NO!_ **

Vanitas struggled, trying to reach for the incomplete X-blade as it drifted away from him. This couldn’t be how things ended, it  _ couldn’t _ , he didn’t want it to be like  _ this! _

They were supposed to become one again, forge the X-blade, bring about the next war! They wouldn’t be in pain anymore, they wouldn’t be  _ incomplete! _

Instead, here they were, drifting among the ruins of their stitched together heart. Was Ventus smiling about this? Why was he smiling? Everything was going wrong, horribly wrong!

Vanitas let his arms drop, let his entire body become weightless almost. There was no use, was there? Everything he had fought for, everything he had suffered for. . . It was all pointless in the end, wasn’t it?

He closed his eyes, allowing his body to sink back down into that familiar embrace of darkness. If this was how it ended, if this was how he died, then so be it.

At least he and Ventus were whole again, even for just a few moments.

He could accept that.


	26. Eternal

“Vanitas, you will be able to gain more than just being whole again if you merge with Ventus and forge the X-blade,” his master was telling him one day, causing the boy to be a bit stunned that the man was even bothering to speak with him. What was he even talking about?

Why wasn’t he angry at him for not managing to merge already? Did he understand that the idiot was still too weak right now? No, he would have been punished in that case. He-

“Kingdom Hearts. Of course you know that forging the X-blade will summon it and the other Keyblade wielders will flock to this world. . . But you, Vanitas? For bringing Kingdom Hearts and the X-blade to us, you will be granted something far more rewarding in the coming war.”

_ That _ caught his interest.

“What is it?”

He watched the old man smile, unable to repress the shiver that ran down his spine. Thankfully his own helmet hid his face, otherwise he was certain that Xehanort would take too much enjoyment out of the discomfort that was undoubtedly showing.

“Eternal life, Vanitas. You will be granted eternal life.”

Eternal life? Well, that certainly didn’t sound too bad. He actually liked the sound of that. Eternal life, huh?

***

Too bad it was all a lie in the end.


	27. Gentle

He didn’t like how nice people could be, how  _ gentle _ they were. He had to watch Terra, Aqua, even Eraqus be gentle with his lesser half, unable to stop the growing pit of anxiety that one day, just  _ one day _ , they would demand something that Ventus wouldn’t be able to go against.

He didn’t want anyone to be gentle with him because of it. If there was anything Vanitas was truly fearful of, it was the sheer gentleness that someone could show him. Someone could put on an act of kindness and care, treating him better than he had ever been treated.

But he knew, he  _ knew _ that they would ask him for something that he would be forced to do, all because they had been gentle with him.

Never. He was never going to let anyone be gentle with him, no matter how tempting.

He wouldn’t let himself be lulled into a false sense of security only to be used like that.


	28. Poison

His Mandrake Unversed were both his favorite and most despised Unversed that he could create. Born from his venomous feelings in relation to the bonds his lesser half had, the plant-like Unversed were able to poison those that went against them.

He wasn’t, however, expecting that very poison to run through his veins the moment his Mandrakes returned to him.

His blood felt like it was on fire, burning him from the inside out. He wasn’t sure if this was how poison was truly felt, but dammit, it hurt. It wouldn’t kill him, he knew that, but it made him feel significantly weaker. If he was to run into any of those idiots, they would be able to best him without even trying.

Maybe making those things was a bad idea. But so long as his own poison plagued him, so would the poison from his Mandrakes.

No antidote in sight.


	29. Pumpkin

Halloween Town again. Vanitas watched as his Unversed scrambled around, joining in the festivities  that the inhabitants of the world were taking part in. Scares, dances, it even looked like some were running around with candy that they took from the children of this place.

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the sight, leaning against the pillar he had been sticking by. Out of sight, out of mind. He could let his Unversed have fun, but if he was seen-

“Sora! You look far more spooky this year!”

Vanitas nearly jumped, spinning around to see the skeleton from before looking down at him. Did. . . Did he seriously think he was Sora? Of all the stupid idiots to be confused for!

“Uh. . .”

He couldn’t even start saying anything when the skeleton suddenly slung a bony arm around him, leading him away from the pillar and towards the town.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you again! Oh, won’t Sally be excited to see you as well, and the Doctor, and. . . Well, maybe not Oogie’s boys, they’re still angry at you for helping me take him down again.”

What the hell was this guy’s name again? Jack? He couldn’t remember.

“Anyway, you have to tell me what you have been up to! Have you seen Mr. Sandy Claws lately? Oh, and you have to see this new routine I’m doing with some monsters that have shown up in town. Much better dancers than any Heartless could be, that’s for sure!”

Did he never stop talking? Then again, he could talk himself. So, maybe. . .

“I haven’t been up to much, uh, Jack.” He hoped he got the name right. “Just stopping by to celebrate Halloween with everyone again.”

That seemed to make the skeleton smile even more, who was now launching into a list of activities for them to do. Scaring contests, pumpkin carving up at the hill, trick or treating, and so many other things. Vanitas found himself interested in the pumpkin carving though, wondering to himself if they could carve more than one.

And sure, being called Sora every other sentence was annoying, but if it kept him on everyone’s good side, then he would endure it.

“So, about that pumpkin carving. . .”


	30. Salvation

When he was first born, he felt empty, incomplete. There was another boy with him, one who he despised almost immediately and had tried to kill one time too many before the old man stopped him.

Yet still, that empty feeling persisted, over and over again, causing him endless agony.

But when he fought Ventus, he felt whole, complete, even if they were still apart. He didn’t realize until then that he had been trying to kill his own salvation.

Until, of course, he faced Aqua.

She was powerful with magic, almost as powerful as Xehanort himself. But not only that. . . She was so full of light as well. If Ventus turned out to be his damnation instead of his salvation, then could she be his true salvation? Could she be the one he was truly supposed to merge with and fulfill his purpose?

Although it wasn’t until his final fight with Ventus that he learned the cold hard truth.

Both of them were one another’s salvation, as well as their damnation.


	31. Rebirth

There was something beating in his chest. That made no sense though, he. . . He didn’t have a heart that  _ could  _ beat, right? He died. He remembered dying. The last thing he had done was. . . Was fought Ventus, in their heart. He had reached for the X-blade, but it had kept drifting away.

So then why was he alive? Was it even possible for him to be alive?

He slowly opened his eyes, flinching at the sudden assault of light.

Where. . . Where was he? Why was it so bright?

When Vanitas could finally see, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. This was the Keyblade Graveyard, wasn’t it? Why was he back here? Why was he-

“Welcome back, Vanitas.”

Vanitas turned his head, eyes growing wide at the sight of Xehanort.

Back? He was alive again?

“Shall we begin anew?”


End file.
